She woke up to the sound of bells sounding off from the city cathedral. Such an awful sound, she thought. She knew why though. The king was dead and today was her coronation. The whole city would be there to see it all. So much had happened before today. She kept wondering if it was all her fault. If her father’s death was because of what she did and if her little brother would forgive her if he knew the wish she made.

She remembers the day he came to her all too clearly. It was raining heavily outside and the thunder deafened all those that heard it. She was going to bathe the night away. She couldn’t sleep when it was raining; too much noise. She had the servants run a bath for her to make the night more bearable. The hot water seemed to boil her worries away and the size of the bath made her feel like she was in a warm field. She always felt relaxed in the bath. Often she would fall asleep for hours until the water turned cold.

She wanted to do so again tonight. Sleeping away the storm would have been best. But an unwelcome visitor did not allow it, “Good evening.” Was all he said to announce his presence.

She was so startled at his sudden appearance that she almost jumped out of the bubbled bath to run for help. But she stayed. She didn’t know why. Something about this man seemed friendly. Her eyes were fixated on him. They took out every detail they could. His blood red hair, his fair textured skin, his mahogany coloured eyes, his perfect white teeth and a mark on his left cheek that seemed to have been branded on there just recently. She knew the mark meant that he was a heretic and she hesitantly spoke, “You...you’re a Blood Priest.”

“Not quite, duckling.” A smile stretched across his face further showing off his teeths’ shine, “I’m here to make you an offer.” His eyes closed down on her. 

Despite all the bubbles around her she couldn’t help but cover her small breasts with her arms. Those eyes made her feel uncomfortable in her soothing haven, “What are you talking about?”

“I know what you’ve been thinking about these past few days. I can make it happen”

She looked at him like he had just proposed marriage to her. 'Make it happen' what did he mean? Wishes never come true everyone knew that. Yet she sensed truth to his words and asked him.

“How can you do such a thing?”

“Simple. I’m a demon” He replied like it was obvious to all.

“A demon?! Leave! Guards! Guards come quick!” She backed further away from him.

“Relax. I’m not here to hurt you. I’m here to grant your wishes” He said as if her cry her help was never going to come, “Three wishes in fact.”

Three wishes? Something seemed off to her. How can a man suddenly appear in her bath chamber and offer her three wishes out of the blue? She stared at him saying nothing, mostly because she did not know what to say. 

“Of course there will be a hefty price afterwards.” His expression made it seem like he had almost forgotten that vital piece of information. And there it was. The thing that seemed off. 

She finally found her voice again, “What kind of price?”

“Oh don’t you worry about that young lady” His sweet smile changed to a cheeky grin.

“Who are you?” She said with a tone of fear

“That is not necessary at the moment. I’m sure you’ll find it in one of your books. So last chance, do you want the wishes or not?” The impatience was clear in his voice. Like a hungry hound awaiting its meal. 

She didn’t like the sound of it. But three wishes? How she could change her life with those! And she only had this one chance. She looked up at the man and stared dead straight into his eyes, “Fine. I’ll accept.”

The man’s face gave a smug smile like he knew she would. Stepping away from the bath he spoke to her.

“When you want a wish fulfilled, climb to the highest tower and bring a red rose with you as well as a bowl. It doesn’t matter what kind. Put the rose in the bowl and pour some blood on it. While you do so chant these words…” 

The words he gave her were unintelligible and a language long forgotten, “Do that and i shall appear.” And with that, he vanished.

Ever since then, that man has been on her mind: How did he know what I was thinking? Where did he come from? Who is he?

In truth she understood why a demon would come to her. In the few days prior to their meeting, she had been wondering what a different life to her current one would have been like. She hated her coal black hair, her big nose, her heavily freckled cheeks and everything else! Every other noble girl was pretty and fair and always so kind around the adults.

But when they were alone with each other, they mocked her. She wasn’t as pretty or as well mannered as the rest and this made her an easy target amongst the proud noble girls. All she wanted was friends, but they would never be friends with her because it would hurt their image if they were seen talking with a commoner or so they would say. If I was pretty like them then maybe I could have friends? This thought seemed like her salvation.

The next morning she did as instructed. She climbed the tower, put a rose in a wooden bowl. She pricked her finger with the rose's thorns deep enough to attract blood, and let it drip onto the rose. She said the words taught to her and almost immediately he appeared in front of her, “Well done young lady. What will your first wish be?” The eagerness in his voice was that of a child awaiting a sugar treat. 

She nodded firmly and spoke with the utmost determination, “I wish to be the most beautiful girl in the world!”

The man smiled and snapped his fingers. Her hair grew longer and changed to a deep crimson. Her face lost it’s freckles and her nose shrunk to a cute button. Her blue eyes went from dark to a sea blue. While she was feeling the new features of her face the man drew a mirror from his sleeve. She noticed that blood was dripping from the sleeve which the mirror came. The blood fell from his arm but did not touch the floor. She realised that he used blood magic to make the mirror appear.

As she looked into the mirror she could not contain her amazement. She gasped and awed at her new reflection and even pinched herself to see if she was dreaming. She was not. The whole transformation was real.

“Thank you. Thank you sir. How can I ever repay you?” She asked him.

He replied, “Do not worry about that duckling. I will think of something for you in due time.”

“Anything! It can be anything! I promise I will pay it all!” She exclaimed without hesitation. 

This made the man laugh. She could not understand why he was laughing, and the reason he gave her did not help her understand any more, “Duckling, you should choose you words more carefully next time.” And with that he disappeared like before. 

She walked down the tower steps staring at her reflection in the small mirror given to her. Her newly given beauty made her giggle like a child. She could not stop looking at herself. Everyone she walked by was stunned and asked her how she became so beautiful. She would just shrug and say that she was always beautiful. When the girls who taunted her saw her new self they were speechless. All of a sudden they were all wanting to know her secret. All the sudden attention had flustered her. She had no idea how to react. That was the first time she felt happy.

One day she was walking past the kitchens and behind all the usual noises of sizzling meat, boiling water and arguing chefs she heard two maids talking. They were talking about her and it did not sound good, “Did you see the new lady? Where did the master buy her from?”

“There’s no way she’s his daughter! That puffed up, painted face can’t be!”

“The only people who look that beautiful are witches! We should burn her before the master is done for with one of her spells.”

 At first she took it for simple maid gossip but when she heard her own name she stayed to listen. It sounded like her new looks disgusted the maids. She could not bear to listen to anymore. She ran to get away from there, tears in her eyes. How could her own servants whom she had lived with all her life now talk such vulgar things about her. 

Who cares what they think?! They’re just commoners! The only approval I need is my friends! She thought as she ran down the hall. As she came to a bend she heard the familiar voices of her newly acquired friends. She took the corner and saw them talking with each other. They were saying the same things as the maids. They all looked forward to see her standing in front of them with tears dripping her cheeks. She ran away from them.

How could her own friends think such things about her? That was something she kept asking herself. Everywhere she went she heard people talking about her in the same way as the others. She did not want to hear anymore so she went to the one place where she knew that no one could find her, and where she could not hear anything more. She climbed the tower where she had first summoned the mysterious man and let her tears run out freely from her eyes.

“Now now what’s the matter this time, duckling?” The familiar voice almost seemed to calm her nerves. She looked up at the man showing her tears.

With her voice cracking from sorrow she answered him, “They all hate me. The servants and even my own friends! They all still hate me!”

He took a seat next to her and patted her shoulder, “No no no, it’s quite the opposite in fact. They admire you, duckling. What you’re hearing from them is jealousy.”

She looked up at him confused. She had never experienced people being jealous of her. It was always her being jealous of them, “What do you mean? How are they admiring me?”

“They admire you so much that they want to be you, duckling. That is where their jealousy stems from. Don’t worry too much about it. Every friendship has jealousy in it.” He said with a warm smile on his face.

The girl became even more confused. After all a demon was comforting her. She did not know what to say to his truth. Instead she hugged him. Her embrace confused the demon as well, like it was the last thing he was expecting. He hesitantly returned her hug and whispered into her ear.

“Of course there will always be two people who won’t think such things about you.”

She listened closely while in his arms. His whisper slowly worked its way into her mind to make itself the only thing she would think. She kind of knew who he was referring to.

“You mean Papa and Mama? But Mama died when I was little so she can’t be the other person right?” She broke away from him to look him in his eyes.

“Correct. A parent will always be there for you. The other person is the special someone who is closer to you than anyone else.” He looked deep into her eyes waiting for her response.

She looked back into his eyes. For some strange reason her heart started pounding fast! She was afraid that he might hear it. She looked away from him to try to hide her cheeks blushing a bright red. Eventually she found her voice and spoke back to him.

“You know you’ve kinda been acting like my papa lately. Making my wishes come true and giving me advice about friendship, it’s almost like you’ve taken over as my father!” She forced herself to giggle to make it seem like it was true. But in truth she was trying to hide her true feelings.

“It was funny the first time but now it’s just stale. Didn’t I tell you to choose your words more carefully?” The coldness in his voice made it clear to her that he did not feel the same way for her. She looked down ashamed and a long silence followed. She broke the silence with a question.

“How can you expect me to not have a shred of feelings for you after comforting me the way you just did?”

“Why not spend a wish? If you feel lonely despite having friends why not make a wish for something even more special? Of course you can’t wish it to be me” His quick response was obvious that he ignored her question.

“Alright. I wish for someone to love me.” Sadness filled her voice as she made that wish, unlike the last time where she was filled with determination and excitement. The man snapped his fingers again and told her that the next man she sees will fall in love with her. She looked up hoping to see him but he had disappeared already.

As she walked down the steps she thought about what kind of man she will see to try lift her spirits. She pictured someone like the nameless man she had just seen. When she reached the bottom of the steps she saw a boy. His gold hair was tied back in a ponytail, his eyes were a light blue like hers and his cheeks had a rosy hue to them. He was not the most handsome boy she had seen, especially after having a talk with the man of most girl’s dreams, but he did make her smile. He turned to look at her and smiled back. She asked him his name and he gave it to her. His name was Joseph.

And thus their relationship began. She had never had a lover before and was clueless as to how to go about it. But he guided her the entire way by sending her letters everyday with poems inside, small sweets in the shape of tiny animals and jewellery that made her eyes shine. She again felt like she was happy for the first time in her life.

But then he passed away not too long after meeting with her for the first time. A putrid plague swept across the land infecting everything it could. The sickness came over him and he died in his sleep. She was heart broken. She spent the entire night crying into a pillow. Why? Was all she could ask herself. Then it came to her. What if the payment the man never spoke of was her suffering? She thought about it for hours and came to the conclusion that it was true.

She needed to find out if it was true, so she went to the tower again and commenced the ritual to summon him. This time it took awhile for him to appear in front of her. Hours in fact. It was almost nightfall when he did. 

She demanded to know why he took Joseph’s life and he replied like it was old news, “So what if I did? Didn’t you say that you would pay anything?” 

She looked angrily away at the truth of his words. He was right and there was nothing she could do now. He had her in the palms of his hands with her own words. She angrily stormed off.

At the bottom of the steps was her father. He seemed overjoyed about something and she asked him what it was. “Your brother has just come back from the academy! He was top of the class in swordsmanship! Isn’t that great?!”

Unfortunately she did not share his happiness. Almost since he was born he had been outshining her in everything. Her little brother was born with more charm than her making many girls fall for him. He had learned how to walk faster than she did and learned how to talk faster than she did. He seemed to do everything she did quicker and better. But the only thing that she had over her little brother was the inheritance to the throne. Papa promised me that I would be queen someday. Papa would never break his promise.

Almost as if he heard her thoughts he followed on what he said, “And so we’re holding a great feast tonight to honour his achievements, and so I can officially name him as my successor! Be sure to wear your best dress tonight dear.”

He gave her a quick peck on the cheek before leaving her there alone. Hatred filled her heart. Hatred for her brother and father. She turned back and walked up the steps again as fast as she could. How could this happen to her? Her brother had outshined her again! This time so much so that he convinced Papa to give him the throne. She would not let him take this from her! She stepped outside the door and onto the tower’s roof to find him still there. His smile made her think that he knew what had just happened.

“Why are you still here?!” She tried to make her voice sound as intimidating as possible but it did not faze him.

“I can only leave when you’ve made a wish. So how about it? Care to make that final wish?” He walked closer to her like he could not wait.

“I wish to be queen!” She stood her ground as he looked down on her. His expression made that cheeky grin again.

“As you wish, my lady.” He snapped his fingers once again and disappeared leaving her alone on the roof. She walked down the steps expecting people to bow down before her and call her queen. But nothing happened. Everyone treated her like they usually did.

Four days had passed since she made the wish. Instead of feeling anger she felt disappointed towards herself for believing that the demon could make her queen. She was about to walk up the tower again to call him but she was stopped just before the stairs by the family butler. The grim expression he had on his face made her feel uneasy. 

He spoke and absolute sorrow came out, “My lady, I regret to inform you but your father is dead. He was murdered last night.” 

She almost fell to her knees but used the wall to keep herself standing.

With a shaky voice she asked him, “How did he die?”

The butler looked down to avoid her tears. He stayed silent, hesitant to tell her the truth. He only answered her when she demanded him to know, “My lady, he was murdered with a knife to the throat… by your brother.”

All she could say was no. Not to hear the details of her father’s demise but to how the demon granted her wish. She never wanted any of them to die! She just wanted to become queen just like how her father had promised her. She spent the last couple of days trying to summon him on the tower but to no results and then the bells started one night and she knew that it was hopeless and stopped trying.

Now she’s sitting on the throne in the great hall. She looked around and noticed the banners that her servants had placed around the banisters. They were a deep blood red different to her family’s black and gold. She looked down in front of her to see the many faces she did not know and the very few that she did. Seeing the faces of her old friends made her think about the wishes she made. What was the payment for her three wishes? Was it her father’s death and her brother’s betrayal? If it was not then what will it be? She put aside those thoughts and stayed focused on one thing. All demons come for the souls of humans. Could it be that the payment for my wishes is my soul? No! I will not allow that! I will stay alive and be queen for eternity! 

She made that vow to herself as the rose crown was placed on her head. The priest turned to the crowd and announced to them her new title which was met with little praise and applause from the crowd.

“I now declare Myranda Rose, first of her name, Queen of Rodes and the Protector of Man! Long may she reign!”